Intel Arc A370M vs NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive performance gap between these two mobile graphics processors. Across the two shared benchmark tests, the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile wins both, leaving the Intel Arc A370M with zero victories.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile scores 110,877 against the Intel Arc A370M's 29,676. This represents a delta of -73.2% for the Intel part, meaning the NVIDIA GPU delivers roughly 3.7 times the raw compute throughput in this workload. The gap is substantial enough that the two chips are not competing in the same performance tier; the RTX A5000 Mobile operates in a class that the Arc A370M cannot approach.

Geekbench Vulkan tells a similar story, though the margin narrows slightly. The RTX A5000 Mobile posts 88,144, while the Arc A370M manages 28,673. The delta here is -67.5%, still a massive deficit. Vulkan tends to favor architectures with strong driver optimization and high shader throughput, and the Ampere-based NVIDIA part clearly leverages both advantages. The Arc A370M's Vulkan score is closer to its OpenCL result than the NVIDIA chip's, suggesting that Intel's Xe-HPG architecture scales more consistently across these APIs, but that consistency does not compensate for the raw horsepower gap.

Context from the database's nearest rival data reinforces the separation. The Intel Arc A370M's average benchmark score is 29,175, placing it in the 74th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest competitor is the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH at 29,197, a delta of just -0.1%, meaning the two are effectively tied. The Arc A370M also sits within 1% of the AMD Radeon RX 470 and the AMD Radeon RX 6800M, the latter being a high-end mobile part from a different generation. This suggests the Arc A370M punches near the level of mid-range discrete GPUs from prior years.

The NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile, by contrast, has an average benchmark score of 24,763, which places it only in the 70th percentile. This is counterintuitive given its dominant head-to-head wins. The explanation lies in its nearest rivals: the AMD Radeon RX 590 scores 24,744 (delta 0.1%), the Intel Arc A350M scores 24,647 (delta 0.5%), and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT scores 24,442 (delta 1.3%). The RTX A5000 Mobile's average is dragged down by its Passmark scores, which are anomalously low compared to its Geekbench results. Specifically, its Passmark DirectX 9 score is 169, DirectX 10 is 115, DirectX 11 is 133, DirectX 12 is 72, and G2D is 629. These numbers are far below what the architecture should produce, indicating either driver limitations in those legacy tests or a measurement anomaly. The G3D score of 15,779 and GPU compute score of 6,945 are more representative of its capabilities.

When interpreting the head-to-head data, the OpenCL and Vulkan results are the most reliable indicators of relative performance. The RTX A5000 Mobile's 73.2% lead in OpenCL and 67.5% lead in Vulkan are consistent with its massive advantage in shading units, memory bandwidth, and transistor count. The Arc A370M cannot close this gap in any recorded workload.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The Intel Arc A370M uses the DG2-128 chip built on the Xe-HPG architecture, part of the Alchemist generation for Arc 3 Mobile. It is fabricated on a 6 nm process at TSMC, with 7,200 million transistors packed into a 157 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 45.9 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile uses the GA104 chip on the Ampere architecture, part of the Ampere-MW (Ax000) generation. It is built on Samsung's 8 nm process, with 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, resulting in a density of 44.4 million per square millimeter. The Intel chip is denser per area, but the NVIDIA chip has more than twice the total transistors and die area.

The compute resources diverge sharply. The Arc A370M has 1,024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, 32 raster output units, and 8 ray tracing cores. The RTX A5000 Mobile has 6,144 shading units, 192 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 48 RT cores, and 192 tensor cores. The NVIDIA part has exactly six times the shading units, three times the TMUs and ROPs, and six times the RT cores. The tensor cores are exclusive to NVIDIA, enabling AI-accelerated workloads that the Intel chip cannot match. The FP32 throughput reflects this: 4.198 TFLOPS for Intel versus 19.35 TFLOPS for NVIDIA, a 4.6-fold difference. The FP16 figures are more nuanced: the Intel chip achieves 8.397 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio (meaning it halves throughput for FP16), while the NVIDIA chip achieves 19.35 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, indicating full-rate FP16 execution.

Memory architecture is another major divergence. The Arc A370M has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, yielding 112.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX A5000 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 448.0 GB/s. Both run at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective, but the NVIDIA part's fourfold wider bus gives it four times the bandwidth. The 16 GB capacity versus 4 GB is critical for large datasets, high-resolution textures, and professional workloads. Clock speeds differ as well: the Intel chip runs at 1550 MHz base and 2050 MHz boost, while the NVIDIA chip runs at 900 MHz base and 1575 MHz boost. The Intel chip's higher clocks partially compensate for its smaller core count, but not enough to overcome the massive shader deficit.

Power and interface specifications also differ. The Arc A370M has a TDP of 35 W and uses an IGP slot width, meaning it is designed for integrated or low-power mobile implementations. The RTX A5000 Mobile has a TDP of 150 W and lists no power connectors, indicating it draws power through the motherboard. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x8 for Intel versus PCIe 4.0 x16 for NVIDIA, giving the NVIDIA part twice the bandwidth to the host system. Both support PCIe 4.0, but the x16 link is a meaningful advantage for data transfer in compute-heavy tasks.

Manufacturing dates are close: Intel released the Arc A370M on March 29, 2022, while NVIDIA released the RTX A5000 Mobile on April 11, 2021. Both are end-of-life products. The NVIDIA part has a predecessor (Quadro Turing-M) and a successor (Ada-MW), while the Intel part has neither in the database.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute throughput?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile, with 19.35 TFLOPS FP32 versus the Intel Arc A370M's 4.198 TFLOPS. The NVIDIA chip also achieves 19.35 TFLOPS FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, while Intel reaches 8.397 TFLOPS FP16 at a 2:1 ratio.

Q: How do the memory configurations compare?

A: The RTX A5000 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Arc A370M has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus with 112.0 GB/s. Both run at 1750 MHz, but the NVIDIA part has four times the bandwidth and four times the capacity.

Q: What is the performance gap in the recorded benchmarks?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX A5000 Mobile scores 110,877 versus 29,676 for the Arc A370M, a -73.2% delta. In Geekbench Vulkan, the scores are 88,144 versus 28,673, a -67.5% delta. NVIDIA wins both tests.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units and ray tracing cores?

A: The RTX A5000 Mobile has 6,144 shading units and 48 RT cores. The Arc A370M has 1,024 shading units and 8 RT cores. The NVIDIA part has six times the shading units and six times the RT cores.

Q: Are there any workloads where the Intel Arc A370M is competitive?

A: The data shows no such workloads. The Arc A370M's average benchmark score is 29,175, and its nearest rival (AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH) is within 0.1%, but it loses both head-to-head tests by large margins. Its higher clocks (2050 MHz boost versus 1575 MHz) do not offset the core count disadvantage.

Q: How does the transistor density compare?

A: The Intel Arc A370M has a density of 45.9 million transistors per square millimeter on TSMC's 6 nm process. The NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile has 44.4 million per square millimeter on Samsung's 8 nm process. Intel's density is slightly higher, but the NVIDIA chip has more than double the total transistors (17,400 million versus 7,200 million).

The Verdict

The benchmark data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile is the superior GPU in every recorded metric. Its 73.2% lead in OpenCL and 67.5% lead in Vulkan are not marginal differences; they represent a fundamental performance tier gap. The RTX A5000 Mobile's 6,144 shading units, 192 TMUs, 96 ROPs, and 48 RT cores dwarf the Arc A370M's 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and 8 RT cores. For any workload that stresses raw compute, texture throughput, or ray tracing, the NVIDIA part is the clear choice.

The Arc A370M does have advantages in specific areas. Its 6 nm process node is more advanced than Samsung's 8 nm, yielding a higher transistor density. Its 35 W TDP is dramatically lower than the RTX A5000 Mobile's 150 W, making it suitable for thin-and-light laptops where power efficiency is paramount. Its higher boost clock of 2050 MHz versus 1575 MHz suggests it can ramp up quickly under load, but this cannot compensate for a 4.6-fold deficit in FP32 throughput.

Who should pick which? Systems integrators and users prioritizing maximum compute performance, large memory capacity, or AI acceleration (via the 192 tensor cores) should choose the RTX A5000 Mobile. Its 16 GB of VRAM is essential for large models, high-resolution textures, or multi-monitor setups. The Arc A370M is appropriate for low-power mobile devices where the GPU is not the primary workload driver, and where the 74th percentile ranking (versus 70th for NVIDIA) in the database's overall distribution is acceptable. The RTX A5000 Mobile's lower percentile is misleading due to its anomalous Passmark legacy scores; the Geekbench results are the better indicator of true performance.

There is no scenario in the recorded data where the Arc A370M outperforms the RTX A5000 Mobile. The NVIDIA part wins both head-to-head tests, has superior memory bandwidth, and offers more than four times the compute throughput. The only reasons to select the Intel part are power envelope and manufacturing process, not performance.

Specification Differences

| Specification | Intel Arc A370M | NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile |

|---|---|---|

| Chip | DG2-128 | GA104 |

| Architecture | Xe-HPG | Ampere |

| Generation | Alchemist (Arc 3 Mobile) | Ampere-MW (Ax000) |

| Process node | 6 nm (TSMC) | 8 nm (Samsung) |

| Transistors | 7,200 million | 17,400 million |

| Die size | 157 mm² | 392 mm² |

| Transistor density | 45.9M / mm² | 44.4M / mm² |

| Base clock | 1550 MHz | 900 MHz |

| Boost clock | 2050 MHz | 1575 MHz |

| Memory size | 4 GB | 16 GB |

| Memory bus | 64 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 112.0 GB/s | 448.0 GB/s |

| Shading units | 1024 | 6144 |

| TMUs | 64 | 192 |

| ROPs | 32 | 96 |

| RT cores | 8 | 48 |

| Tensor cores | None | 192 |

| Pixel rate | 65.60 GPixel/s | 151.2 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 131.2 GTexel/s | 302.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 4.198 TFLOPS | 19.35 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 8.397 TFLOPS (2:1) | 19.35 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 35 W | 150 W |

| Bus interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Release date | 2022-03-29 | 2021-04-11 |

| Predecessor | None | Quadro Turing-M |

| Successor | None | Ada-MW |

| Average benchmark score | 29,175 | 24,763 |

| Percentile | 74th | 70th |